Classic Poem

Be blessings on the little child,
Which trusts because it loves alone
The Saviour, who on it has smiled
And by that smile its heart has won.

Be blessings on the generous youth,
Who has not learn'd the blush of shame,
But craves to climb from truth to truth,
And thinks that all men crave the same.

Be blessings upon those who bear
The heat and burden of the day,
And through this world of sin and care
Unfaltering track a heavenward way.

Be blessings on the cloudless brow
Of age unstain'd by storm and strife,
Which calmly waits the summons now
To pass into the light of life.

And are these gleams of heaven on earth,
We love through mists of tears to trace,
But symbols of the Spirit's birth?
But firstfruits of the Spirit's grace?

What will it be when those, who weep
But weeping seek the things above,
In God's eternal kingdom reap
The harvest of these seeds of love?

A saint in light, no cloud to mar
The perfect image of his Lord,
Resplendent as the morning star;
Is this the sum of faith's reward?

One saint albeit a saint in light,
One star in heaven's great firmament,
Ah, this were little in His sight
Who will His Bride in bliss present;

His Bride, His diadem of saints,
Never a jewel wanting there,
Whose spotless beauty language faints
With earthly glories to compare;

His Bride, of every age and clime;
His Bride, of numbers numberless;
The blossom and the flower of time,
The crown of love and loveliness.

And is there aught reveal'd beyond
This vision of supreme delight?
Can faith with shaded eyes respond
To words which touch the infinite?

And will the Bride herself appear
The firstfruits of Eternal Love?
Is there no bound, no limit here
To growth of bliss below, above?

So runs the living Oracle,
“His will begat the Church to be
Creation's firstfruits.” Who can tell
The harvests of eternity?

O God, it is enough, if we
Will rest upon Thy word alone;
And, taking what is known of Thee,
Will trust Thee for the vast unknown.